Body Science LLC added St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) to the roster of companies it’s sued for infringing its patents for remote patient monitoring.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Minnesota over a patent covering "Wireless Medical Diagnosis and Monitoring Equipment," accuses St. Paul, Minn.-based St. Jude of infringing at least 4 claims in the patent with its Merlin@home monitor, which relays information from St. Jude’s pacemakers, ICDs and CRT devices, according to court documents.
"The infringing pacemakers, ICDs and CRT devices include, at a minimum, the Accent SR, Accent DR, Anthem CRT-P, Atlas II ICD, Atlas II HF CRT-D, Current RF ICD, Current Accel ICD, Current Plus ICD, Epic II ICD, Epic II HF CRT-D, Fortify ICD, Promote Accel CRT-D, Promote Plus CRT-D, and Promote RF CRT-D," according to the lawsuit. "The pacemakers, ICDs and CRT devices include sensors which measure heart activity and are capable of transmitting digital data wirelessly to a Merlin@home transmitter. Conversely, the Merlin@home transmitters are capable of transmitting data to the pacemakers, ICDs and CRT devices to change the format of data transmission by such implantable devices."
In September, a quintet of lawsuits Body Science leveled against Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), Philips (NYSE:PHG) and Polar Electro were transferred from various jurisdictions to a federal court in Massachusetts.
Body Science alleges that BSX’s Latitude system, which monitors certain Boston Scientific defibrillator models and wirelessly beams the data to physicians, violates its patents.
All 5 cases were transferred to the Commonwealth, according to court documents, even though all of the defendants in the cases are opposed to the move.
"Centralization, however, will allow a single judge – as opposed to the now 5 judges in 5 districts – to preside over discovery relating to the 2 patents at issue (which will inform and aid the consistent construction of the patents’ claims) and to consistently rule on challenges to the validity of those patents," according to the panel on multidistrict litigation. "We are of the view that the district of Massachusetts is the most appropriate transferee district for pretrial proceedings in this litigation. This district is convenient for several parties, inasmuch as both [Philips] and Boston Scientific’s corporate headquarters are located in Massachusetts, and Polar is based nearby in the Eastern District of New York."